


Death of a Martyr

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcoholism, Cheesy romance, Depression, F/M, Guilt, I don't speak fanfiction I don't know how to tag this, No One Gets It, STRQ - Freeform, Time Skips, Unhappy Ending, bitter breakups, but seriously I didn't allow her and Tai to be that cute, but we all knew they were screwed up didn't we, everyone wants something, guys you know how the story ends, hearts break, hearts melt, my attempt to make Raven likeable, no explicit sexual scenes, people die, read the notes, relationships don't work out, sad stuff, so don't come and complain, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-16 13:03:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10571874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: A girl with silver eyes, a great burden dragging her down. A girl who once told herself she could do anything and so left her tribe, facing the limits of her abilities. Two girls not able to escape a fate they don't want.Ever since she was a little girl, Summer Rose was told how she was destined to be like the heroes in her books. Someone who fought for what was right, and protected those who can't protect themselves. To destroy the grimm and bring peace and harmony throughout all of Remnant. As the silver eyes huntress. No one ever told her it would hurt that much when your destiny makes what you want most impossible.My version of the STRQ backstory, focussing on Raven and Summer, answering most of the questions we have. Covering the time between their first weeks at Beacon and Summer's death. Cheesy, sad, heartwarming, heartbreaking.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> "I don't want to be his martyr."

Before a hunt she thought about the ones she loved, clinging to a memory that might convince her this was all worth it. She had something to protect. She had something to come home to. She had to do this.

Her face was numb from the cold air, the snow red from her blood. She looked up at the sky and as much as she tried to think of Ruby or Yang or Tai, everything she could think about was her first night at Beacon.

 _‘Isn’t it funny that the moon always looks the same, no matter what happens to you?' All of them filled with awe and the urge to do something, while Summer had no idea what Raven even meant but it didn't matter._  She didn’t even feel the pain anymore, the warm blood running down her side. Now she understood. Kneeling in the snow, struggling to keep herself upright and thinking about the first night she had felt like she might belong somewhere.

She didn’t belong anywhere but on the battlefield. Yet, she had never hated any other place more.

She had felt so nervous that day, being a leader while everything she had wanted was to be overlooked. But Taiyang had managed to make her forget that for a night, had done what she had been supposed to do and made them talk and bond and hope. Made Summer laugh and Raven grow soft on him.

She felt cold. Freezing cold.

 _'Welcome to a future of adventures and glory’_ , Qrow had said and knowing him now made it hard to believe he had meant it.

Oh, had they been fools.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My version of the STRQ backstory. I mainly wanted to try a different approach on Summer and Raven than what most people think they were like. We don't have many information about them so why not try a different approach? I will answer most unanswered questions, or at least give one possible answer. Check out my blog headcanonsfromremnant on Tumblr for more background information and maybe some extra scenes.
> 
> The story will make big time jumps after almost every chapter. It's more a collection of scenes that together give us an idea of what happened.
> 
> AN: Special fangz (get it, coz Im goffik) 2 my gf (ew not in that way) fadingemeralds & b-listbadboy 4 helpin me wif da story and spelling. U rok!
> 
> The next chapter will be a little bit happier, or as b-listbadboy summed it up: 
> 
> "Saving Remnant seems like crap when she's struggling to even stay in the same room as Raven Branwen. Or any of her other overbearing teammates. Like Taiyang with his "always happy" attitude. And Qrow, and his dumb stupid hot face. And his chiseled chin and muscular pex...and....
> 
> This was going to be a long semester."


	2. Chapter 2

“If you had stayed where you were we would have won”, Summer snapped, still sitting on her bed, resisting the urge to pull the hood of her cloak over her head. “You were supposed to have my back!”

“Maybe next time you tell me about your master plan before we lose”, Raven said so fiercely Qrow quickly grabbed a book from the desk he was sitting on and pretended to read it. It was hard not to be scared of Raven Branwen when she spoke like that. It was hard not to be scared of her at all. The tall, beautiful warrior. The worst teammate ever.

Fortunately Summer was so far beyond being  intimidated by her attitude. She didn’t even care enough to contain her anger. “Maybe I shouldn’t have to!”

“Isn’t that your job as our great leader?”

“Girls, save that for Peach’s class”, Tai said, still leaning against the door. Trying to stop them from getting at each other’s throats like he always did. “We’re a team and we all love each other.”

“Speak for you and _your_ partner”, Raven said.

Summer crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I second that.”

“At this point Tai and I are basically married.” Qrow looked up from the book he surely hadn’t been reading at all. “Though you two are… at the state even the marriage counsellor would beg you to get divorced.”

“Pretty fast for knowing each other for three weeks”, Raven said, but she just shot him an angry glare and let herself fall down on her bed and put the headphones on Tai had lent her a while ago, crossing her arms behind her head. Summer considered the topic dropped, at least until they found another reason to fight.

“You were pretty good today”, Tai said and sat down next to Summer. “Pretty fast with your sword.”

“That tends to happen when you don’t spend your time on the battlefield throwing rocks at Qrow.” She pulled her knees to her chest.

“It’s not a battlefield, it’s just training.” He chuckled and moved a bit closer. “You okay?”, he whispered.

“Yeah, why?” She stared at her hands, scratching the rough and itchy skin. Here they were, whispering like the Branwen twins. The worst leader ever and the one who should have become their leader instead.

“Raven. You don’t seem to get along too well.”

She shrugged. “It’s alright.” It was only half a lie. She was honestly surprised how little it bothered her. Maybe because it made it much easier to get along with Raven. No social interactions apart from yelling at each other after screwing up in class, no small talk or exhausting exchanges of formal kindness. “She’s not the most polite person after all, I don’t think it’s something personal.”

“It can’t be personal, you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

She shook her head and smiled even though she knew he only said it to make her feel better. She had never been good at being nice, nor had people ever wanted her to. She wanted to say something, that it would be alright, that they would be a great team, but the thought of being part of a team alone stressed her out enough to make her throat tighten. Not even to talk about being their leader. She was already glad she now managed to talk and interact with them without feeling anxious for hours afterwards. “You were pretty good as well”, she said instead, not whispering anymore, because she already regretted her comment about him just joking around.

“Not as good as I will be, but thanks.” He smiled, genuinely smiled.

“You didn’t even hit me once with your rocks”, Qrow said. He got up, stumbling over Tai’s boots. They hadn’t been at Beacon for a month now and their room was a horrible mess already. None of them was really keeping their stuff in order, none of them really cared enough to do anything but randomly throw a mud stained shirt at its respective owner. He sat down next to Raven and took her headphones away which earned him a deep growl.

“At least I didn’t almost stumble into my own sister while trying to look cool”, Tai said with a smirk.

“I did look cool.” Qrow ruffled Raven’s hair and leaned against the wall. She might have killed anyone else for doing that, but she settled with rolling her eyes and resting her head in his lap. Summer and Tai had given up on understanding the Branwen twins early on. Summer caught herself staring at Qrow. He wasn’t any less beautiful than Raven, tall and pale. Soft, dark hair and the same shifty smirk. Qrow looked up, directly at Summer. She felt her cheeks burn. “What do you think, Blossom?”

He had come up with that nickname during their first week and it still made her blush. “I think you both shouldn’t focus that much on who’s the coolest and more on becoming good huntsmen.” It was the answer of a leader. To be completely honest she didn’t even care.

“Why again does our leader always sound like she’s a teacher herself?”, Raven said.

“Because someone has to be our voice of reason”, Tai sad, throwing a pillow at Raven, but it hit Qrow instead who growled in protest.

“We have to leave anyway”, Summer said. “Port’s class.” The one she hated the most, because she had it alone with Raven. No Tai or Qrow to stop them from getting at each other’s throats.

“Better not be late.”

Raven groaned and got up. Summer quickly looked away and searched for her shoes. Her partner was not in a good mood today. She settled on not talking to her at all, not even looking at her as they left the room. At least they seemed to agree on that because Raven also didn’t speak a word as they left the dormitory.

It was warm outside but Summer pulled the hood over her head anyway. They walked over the courtyard without even acknowledging each other’s presence until Raven suddenly pulled her behind a trash can. “Go down”, she hissed.

“What the hell?” Summer kneeled down next to Raven.

“Just pretend you’re not here.” Raven carefully peeked behind the trash can.

“Are you running from someone?”

“I’m not running from anything, I just don’t want to meet him, okay?”

“When you’re hiding behind a crash can so you don’t have to see him you’re basically running away.”

“I am not running away”, Raven growled. “He asked me out.”

Summer raised an eyebrow. This wasn’t a surprise, most students have had a crush on at least one of the Branwen twins at some point. But her reaction was not what she would have expected from her. “So what? Either say yes or no.”

“I don’t know how. What do you say? Everyone already thinks I’m rude anyway, I don’t need to make it worse.” Raven peeked around the corner again and for a moment she looked insecure. For a moment she didn’t look like the tough warrior who wouldn’t let anyone tell her what to do, she just looked like a 17 year old girl who didn’t know how to tell a guy off and cared too much about what people were thinking of her.

“Just tell him you only see him as a friend. He won’t ask you out again, but you’re not being rude.”

“You think that would work?”

“Of course.”

“Ever done that?”

Summer blushed. “No.” Not that she had ever talked enough with people so they would ask her out. Not that she would be able to talk that much to those who did.

“He’s gone”, Raven said and got up. “But… maybe next time.” Her voice was a lot softer than usually when she talked to her. “Let’s make sure we won’t be late for Port’s class.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first real chapter is finally out. Let me know what you think! And yes, we will get a lot more Beacon fluff before I break everyone's hearts.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, Summer!”

She didn’t dare to turn around, kept walking next to Raven. Only until Thommy Steele had caught up with them and was right next to her. “Yeah?”, she said, looking at him briefly before staring at the ground before her again.

“Do you have a date for the dance yet?”

 _Oh no_. She felt her cheeks burn. The thing she had dreaded for weeks now, ever since guys had started to drown Raven in invitations. She had hoped no one would ask her, to spend the night in her room without a thousand eyes looking at her wearing a fancy dress that didn’t suit her.

Too many eyes watching her already.

“She has a date”, Raven said and wrapped an arm around her partner’s shoulders. Thommy looked as baffled as Summer felt. “She’ll go with my brother.”

“Qrow?” Thommy raised his eyebrows. Qrow Branwen, the handsome student who filled the heated dreams of most of the girls and some of the boys. He probably got just as many invitations as Raven. And now soon everyone would think that she, the one all the students had luckily enough overlooked so far, was his date.

“Yes. My brother. Don’t try to steal her away from him if you value your life.”

Coming from Raven it would have scared most people away as well. Thommy’s smile grew a bit wider, as if she’d eat him alive if he showed any sign of fear. “Well, see you at the dance then!”, he said before he turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

“Now everyone will think I go to the dance with Qrow”, Summer said. Still baffled Raven had actually tried to help her for once. “What if they find out I won’t?”

“What if you will?” Raven smirked while they were crossing the lawn, joining Qrow and Taiyang who sat under a tree and shared a bag of crisps.

“I don’t even want to go to the dance”, Summer said. Half the truth. The other half was that she didn’t want him to reject her, because why would he go with her if he could have any other girl? They got along, they were friends. But still. Literally any other girl.

“Just like Qrow, but no way I’ll let you two miss this. Perfect match.” She let go off Summer when they finally reached the rest of their team. “Qrow, you’ll go to the dance with Summer”, she said and threw herself onto Tai to fight him for the crisps. 

“Do I have to? I don’t wanna go and I think Summer doesn’t as well. Or do you?”

“Hell, no”, Summer said. She sat down next to Qrow.

“You’ll go. We’ll make you, won’t we?” Raven pinned Tai down by sitting on his chest, holding the crisps high above her head. He made attempts to reach them, but he didn’t seem too uncomfortable with their position.

“We will so make you go”, Tai said.

Qrow sighed and looked at Summer. “Guess we don’t have a choice.”

“Probably not.” She leaned against the tree next to him and they both watched Tai flipping Raven over and trying to pin her down, but it only ended with both of them wrestling on the ground, playful to everyone who knew how it looked when they actually tried to win.

“I can’t believe they’re not dating already”, Qrow whispered to her, moving closer.

“At this point this almost counts as dating. Just look at them.” Raven had pinned Tai down again, basically lying on top of him, her face just above his. They both smirked and no one would have been surprised if they just kissed right there right then.

“This definitely counts as clothed sex”, Qrow said, still not loud enough for the two to hear them. He stretched and crossed his arms behind his head. “So you and Raven are best friends now?”

“Wouldn’t call it that.” She shrugged. “Ask again in a month or two, then I can tell you if we’re actually getting along better now or if she just returned a favour and everything stays the same.”

“You’ll get along.”

“I don’t know. She can be quite rude.”

“I wouldn’t call it rude.” He gave her a crooked smile that made her stomach flutter. “She’s just… not used to this.”

“This?” She felt like looking away, but didn’t. Something about him always made her feel nervous and calm at the same time.

“Social stuff. We grew up outside of the kingdoms. Not much time for that there.” He looked away a bit too quickly. ”Let’s get ourselves some food, I’m starving.” He got up. “Get yourself a room!”, he shouted at Raven and Tai, her currently strangling him with her legs.

“Don’t say that, they might take our room”, Summer said, getting up as well.

“True.” He casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She wished he didn’t. She wished he didn’t let go. “Guess we can’t leave them alone in our room anymore”, he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more STRQ interaction. Next up: quality Branwen twins interaction.


	4. Chapter 4

“Qrow?”

He groaned. “Two more minutes?”

“It’s the middle of the night, shut up and make space.”

He moved to the side of his bed. “Nightmare?”

“Shut up”, Raven mumbled as she crawled under his blanket. “Did you know we’ve been here for two months now?”

“I guess”, he said, still sounding drowsy, but not reluctant.

“Do you remember a time in our life where we stayed at one place this long?”

He didn’t reply and for a moment she thought he had fallen back to sleep. “No”, he finally whispered. “But I think I like it.”

“I think I’m going insane.” She stared at the dark ceiling, same dark ceiling she had been staring at for the last two months. Tai and Summer had agreed to leave the window open at night, because Qrow had told them Raven was a fresh air fanatic. It didn’t help much. He hadn’t told them that the two of them had barely spend a night in a warm building with solid walls and soft beds ever before.

“Only four more years”, he said mockingly, but pulled the blanket over her at the same time. “You’ll get used to it. At least you’re falling asleep at all now.” He shifted to lie on his side, now definitely looking at her. She still stared at the ceiling. “Do you regret coming here?”, he asked.

“No”, she said quickly.

“Because of-“

“Don’t say it out loud. Don’t you dare.”

“Come on, I can already hear the wedding bells.”

“We’re not-“

“Alright.” He moved closer, struggling a bit to get her hair out of the way so he could rest his head on the pillow next to hers.

“It’s the right thing”, she finally said. “That’s why I came here. And I don’t regret it at all. Even if it means I’ll end up eating my own fingers like a caged animal.”

“I’ll tie you to the bed frame before you do that.”

“Oh, thank you, I’m truly touched.”

He chuckled and loosely laid an arm over her stomach. “Try to sleep now or Summer’s going to kill you tomorrow.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This truly is rather a series of one shots that are loosely linked than a real story. Also my chapters are damn short, aren't they?
> 
> Next up: Eva doesn't know how to describe what people do with their bodies, also some really, really cute Elder Bird fluff.


	5. Chapter 5

“No, Raven, you can’t be serious about that.”

“Want to wait for them to get you?”, she said, already climbing the ladder.

“But… we don’t have to get anywhere that high, do we?”

“Taiyang Xiao Long, are you afraid of heights?” She laughed and stopped, turned her head to look at him.

“No need to tell everyone.”

“Just stare at my butt if that helps and hurry up.”

He groaned, but eventually obeyed. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she climbed up, adrenaline still rushing through her veins and making her feel like she could fly.

She pulled herself up and turned around. Taiyang wasn’t far behind her, looking at her and obviously regretting all the choices that had led him here. “How did you even survive our first day?”, she asked.

“I didn’t.” He grabbed the hand she offered him, let her pull him up before he quickly scrambled away from the edge, to the middle of the rooftop to sit down there. “Qrow found me because I was vomiting somewhere in the forest.”

“He never told me that story.” She laughed and kneeled down in front of him. “But you made it.”

“And I will probably never get down again.”

“You will, because otherwise I will kick you down.” She took his hand, warm and rough from combat, and pulled him up. “Come on.”

“Raven!”, he wailed as she pulled him towards the edge of the rooftop. “I am serious, don’t-“

“I’m not going to push you down, don’t worry.” She stopped a few feet before the edge and let go off his hand. “Did you know you can’t be afraid forever?”

“Because you die along the way?”

“Stop being so dramatic.” She sat down, dangling her feet over the edge. “Come.”

“Are you really expecting me to sit down there?”

“Yes. Trust me, I won’t let you fall down. Close your eyes.”

He sighed, ruffled his already messy hair, then sat down and closed his eyes, slowly moved forward. “If this is a trick to make me jump off the roof…”

“Summer would kill me. Your foot is just a few inches away from the edge.” She grabbed his arm. “Just a bit.”

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He finally pushed his feet over the edge and sat down next to her, eyes still closed. He leaned back, hands clinging to the floor behind him. She moved closer, wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Open your eyes”, she said. He did. Frowned, trying to keep his composure while she could feel his heart pounding fast, or was it hers? “It won’t be as bad in a minute, trust me.”

“Not as bad is still pretty bad”, he mumbled between clenched teeth, staring at the bright city lights below them.

No, she didn’t understand him. Her family had never let her get away with any of her fears. They hadn’t been half as gentle as she was with him. But right now she felt like she was on top of everything, the world lying at her feet and city lights shining like stars beneath her. Nothing could get to her up here. She felt safe.

With him.

She put her hand on his cheek. She shouldn’t allow herself to feel as nervous as she did. She didn’t allow herself to hesitate. Her cheek burned when she pulled him closer and kissed him.

It was adrenaline rushing through her all over again. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer, his lips warm against hers. She felt weak when he kissed her back, so not in control and still so good she had to pull back.

But he softly looked at her and she could feel his calmness wash over her. Making it okay. She caressed his cheek and he gave her a crooked smile. “Does this count as training then? You curing me of my fear of heights?”

“And sneaking out of Beacon, sneaking into a nightclub, getting caught, running away from shady night club owners to hide on their rooftop?” She chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“You had the time of your life, didn’t you?”

“Didn’t you?”

He kissed her again, softly, and she knew that the way he could make her feel feathery and skittish in his arms, the way he made her heart flutter in her chest should make her back off, but it didn’t. She wanted this and knowing she never would have been allowed something like this only a year ago made it even more alluring and thrilling.

“I do now”, he whispered. His breath caressed her cheek.

“Why did you even come with me then?”

“Because you asked, I can’t let an opportunity pass to be alone with you. Also I just seem to be unable to say no whenever you ask for something.”

The thought that he would actually do things just for her, just to be with her, send warm shivers down her spine. “You just could have asked me out”, she said.

“Well, can I still do that now?” He smiled.

“I don’t know how any of this works.” She looked away, looking at the city lights again. “I don’t know if you can.”

“Well, and I don’t care. Would you like to go out with me, Rae?”

She smiled. “Yeah, I think I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> My version of the STRQ backstory. I mainly wanted to try a different approach on Summer and Raven than what most people think they were like. We don't have many information about them so why not try a different approach? I will answer most unanswered questions, or at least give one possible answer. Check out my blog headcanonsfromremnant on Tumblr for more background information and maybe some extra scenes.
> 
> The story will make big time jumps after almost every chapter. It's more a collection of scenes that together give us an idea of what happened.
> 
> AN: Special fangz (get it, coz Im goffik) 2 my gf (ew not in that way) fadingemeralds & b-listbadboy 4 helpin me wif da story and spelling. U rok!


End file.
